For historical romance with a strong mystery element, pick up this debut novel from Jillian Stone. The story takes place in London, 1887. It’s James Bond meets a Victorian Katharine Hepburn!
Zeno Kennedy of Scotland Yard has been investigating bombings by a terrorist group in London. The terrorist group is trying to force Ireland’s independence from England through revolution. Zeno gets a break in the case when he rents a townhouse to the widow Cassandra St. Cloud. An informant has led him to believe Cassandra’s brother-in-law is a member of the “Bloody Four,” aristocrats responsible for funding the dynamiters.
It is no hardship for Zeno to strike up a conversation with the attractive, and oddly progressive, widow. Cassie smokes cigars in her garden, wears pants while bicycling in the park, and approaches sex with a decidedly un-Victorian attitude. And Cassie’s plucky spirit comes in handy as they face one dangerous situation after another. In between they find time to fall in love!
I thought the story was well-balanced between the investigation and the growing romance between the lead characters. And the historical part wasn’t focused so much on tea parties, balls, and the formal manners as in other historical romances I’ve read. This may not be a good fit for you if you enjoy your Victorian romances without the intrusion of modern ideas, but I found that intrusion funny and engaging.
An Affair with Mr. Kennedy won the 2010 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for Historical Romance and is the first in Jillian Stone’s The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series.
Next up in the series is A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis, which takes a closer look at Zeno’s colleague, Detective Rafe Lewis.
Check the WRL catalog for An Affair with Mr. Kennedy
Check the WRL catalog for A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis
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Adding to my must-have list. :) Who could resist a Victorian Katharine Hepburn? Plus, I love a good Victorian romance–although I hope there aren’t too many historical inaccuracies in the plot. :)
I think the author made Cassie’s character a “modern woman” in order to get around some of the limitations of the Victorian era. Let me know what you think after you read the book.
FYI: An Affair with Mr. Kennedy was originally titled The Yard Man when it won the Golden Heart in the romantic suspense category. (Even my publisher gets this wrong!)
About Cassie: She comes from a very progressive family. Her father refers to them as a wild bunch of bohemians. Her mother is a doctor and suffragist. I also made Cassie an impressionist artist and a young widow. Then I created the handsome, stoic Zeno Kennedy and made him irresistible!
These novels are romantic adventures and I prefer to think of the Scotland Yard men as if they were James Bond in bowlers! BTW, I loved your line: It’s James Bond meets a Victorian Katharine Hepburn!
Jillian Stone
let me say first, that cover is gooooooooooooooorgeous .. and now I read the concept of it, I added it to my GoodReads TBR list .. great review!
Read this a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It’s nice to see the cover which is fabulous ~ I have the book on my kindle so I didn’t see the cover.